Sports Reporter

Yoann Huget of France and Nick Cummins scramble for the ball in Melbourne on Saturday night. Photo: Getty Images

French coach Philippe Saint Andre recognises that his players - exhausted after a long season and a second loss to Australia - face a massive challenge to lift one more time for Saturday's final Test against the Wallabies.

True, there is the lure of snaring France's first win against the Wallabies in Australia since 1990 to motivate them for the afternoon clash at Allianz Stadium at Moore Park in Sydney. And the confidence the French gained from their improved defence and aggression at the breakdown in their 6-0 loss to Australia in Melbourne on Saturday as against their 50-23 thrashing in Brisbane last Saturday week,

But, speaking the day after their loss at Etihad Stadium, Saint Andre conceded: "We lacked efficiency. We lost the ball too fast. We have a lot of work to do in that area, with the quality of the clean out. And the quality of our passes was not of a match of this level.

''It was very physical. It was hard. And in the contest for the ball we were much more present than last week. But we are realistic. We did not win. We lost 6-0 and we have to do all we can to win this last Test at Sydney."

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Asked if he would make any changes to his team, Saint Andre said: "We will see ... Some of them have played two 80-minute games now. Sure there will be some adjustments. We will see how the players recover.

"It will be a good challenge to get back to the same intensity and find the solutions and the response to the question they will ask of us."

Saint Andre knows there is no time to relax if France are to claim their first win in Australia in 24 years. Instead, they face a week of working on their problem areas.

Despite ball-handling and passing errors, the coach also rued France's errant discipline that saw 10 of their penalties come in the second half.

"We should have gone into half-time with a 10-0 lead, but we lost 6-0, " he said. "I preferred this match to the last week's. But we can't give up."